Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bridge
|Season = 5 |Antagonist = Loki, Dahak |Setting = Norseland |In-Universe Date = Year 3 |Production # = V0710 |Filming Dates = 7 August to 19 August 1998 |Original Air-Date = |Written By = Gerry Conway |Story By = |Teleplay By = |Directed By = Michael Hurst |Order in Series = 88 of 111 |Order in Season = 7 of 22 |Order in Franchise= 194 of 304 |Prev Episode in Series = "Norse By Norsevest" |Next Episode in Series = "Darkness Rising" |Prev Episode in Franchise = "Dad Always Liked Me Best" |Next Episode in Franchise = "Locked Up and Tied Down" |title cap image = }} Two of the three tragedies have been fulfilled and Hercules races to prevent the third one – "the dying of the light" – from coming to pass. He has no choice but to recruit a reluctant Thor to succeed, but Loki is already one step ahead of them. With Odin blinded, everything threatens to come to an end. Now, Hercules and Thor must work together to prevent Ragnarök from dooming everyone in Asgard and on Earth. Summary Hercules continues talking to Odin and learns the third part of the prophecy of darkness. Loki creates a mask and tricks Odin into wearing it: it blinds him (This is the darkness). Loki blows a horn and all of the Asguard ices over. He burns down the Viking hall where all the people are. Thor sends Hercules to Asguard to see about Odin while he goes to save all the people. Loki kills Thor with the poison dart. Hercules finds Odin and his wife barley alive: he leaves them to go help find Thor. Odin and his wife both die. Hercules learns the Norn book of fate only records the past and present, as well as that Loki paints the "future" on them. Hercules fights him and wins. He repaints the page where Balder died and this time he doesn't kill him. Disclaimer : No Frost Giants were thawed during the production of this motion picture. Background Information * Michael Hurst does not appear in this episode. * The title is based on lyrics from Over the Rainbow, the well-known song from 1939's The Wizard of Oz. * In the DVD interview, Robert Tapert said this episode was forshadowing the Twilight of the Gods storyline. In spite of this, the Norse gods/Asgardians are restored and were not affected by Xena's onslaught. * Tapert also said he was thinking about doing a HTLJ/XWP type series based on Norse mythology, but it never was made because the action hours were losing popularty. * In Norse mythology, Odin only has one eye. He sacrificed one of his eyes to gain a drink from the Well of Wisdom, which gave him knowledge of the Past, Present and Future. * Gerry Conway, who wrote this episode, is a prolific comic book writer for both Marvel and DC, where he wrote many of their takes on mythological characters, including Thor and Hercules. He also wrote the original Spider-Man Clone saga, helped create the Punisher, and most famously/infamously, killed off Spider-Man's girlfriend Gwen Stacy, in a story considered archetypal of the modern cliche wherein a hero cannot protect their loved ones from a maddened vengeful enemy. Links and References Guest Stars * Ben Reed as Thor * Ian Hughes as Loki * Rupert Cocks as Balder * Peter McCauley as Odin Other Cast * Donogh Rees as Frigga * Denise Snoad as Hilda * Wade Jackson as Eric * Yvonne Lawley as Norn * Emily Hartley-Skudder as Little Girl * Thomas McIvor as Recovered Warrior * Ann Baxter as Old Woman * Vadim Ledogorov as Blacksmith * Stephen Papps as The Darkness * Jonathan Meirhead as Little Boy Season Navigation de:Sterbende Götter, Teil 2 Category:Episodes not set in Greece Category:HTLJ Season 5 episodes